Vietnam does not have an independent telecom authority. The Authority of Telecommunications is a ministerial unit which performs the advisory and regulatory functions over the telecommunications sectors nationwide.

In February 2020, the Vietnamese government issued Decree No. 15/2020/ND-CP to regulate administrative violations on postal services, telecommunications, radio frequencies, IT and electronic transactions. Art. 44.1(d) of the Decree regulates penalties for not storing information at the server system with an IP address in Vietnam for electronic newspapers, general websites or web portals and social networks subject to the license. Art. 95.3 regulates penalties for advertising email and internet message services using servers not located in Vietnam.

Patent applications by non-Vietnamese residents must be filed via recognised Vietnamese patent agents. According to Art. 89 of Law No. 50/2005/QH11 on Intellectual Property Rights, and Art. 4 of Circular 23/2023/Vietnam on Industrial property, non-Vietnamese residents, organisations or companies without business entities in Vietnam must apply for industrial property rights via legal representatives in Vietnam. Legal representatives must meet the criteria as regulated in Article 154 of the Law. The Parliament of Vietnam amended certain parts of Law No. 50/2005/QH11 with Law No. 36/2009/QH12, and such regulation remains.

Art. 26.3 of the Cybersecurity Law stipulates a mandatory requirement for the local storage of data on servers within Vietnam. This obligation is further elaborated in Chapter V of Decree 53. Under Art. 26 of Decree 53, all Vietnamese companies and certain foreign enterprises are required to store regulated data within Vietnam. This mandate extends to foreign enterprises if they engage in business activities within Vietnam in specific fields, including: telecommunication services; data sharing and storage; provision of national or international domains for Vietnamese users; e-commerce; social networking and social marketing; online gaming; and the provision, management, or operation of other internet-based information in forms such as messaging, telephone calls, video calls, email, or online gaming.
Art. 26 delineates the categories of regulated data as follows:
- Personal data of users based in Vietnam;
- Data generated by Vietnam-based users, including account name, time of usage, credit card details, email address, IP address, most recent log-out time, and registered phone number;
- Data pertaining to the relationships of Vietnam-based users, such as connections with friends or other individuals with whom users interact.

Vietnam is a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

Decree No. 72 establishes the management of Internet services and online networks. Arts. 22, 25, 28 and 34 require providers of websites, social networks, information on mobile networks and online games, respectively, to have at least one server inside the country "serving the inspection, storage, and provision of information at the request of competent state management agencies". In March 2018, the Vietnamese government issued Decree No. 27/2018/ND-CP to partially amend and enhance Decree No. 72. Requirements on local servers remain.

Vietnam’s copyright regime is governed by Law No. 50/2005/QH11 on Intellectual Property Rights and supplemented by Decree 17/2023 on Copyright. However, the exceptions outlined in this framework do not adhere to the fair use or fair dealing models, thereby restricting the lawful use of copyrighted works by others. Art. 25 of Law No. 50/2005/QH11 enumerates these exceptions, with Decree 17/2023 providing further clarification on their application. Notable exceptions include the recitation of works without distorting the author's views in articles for newspapers or periodicals, radio or television broadcasts, or documentaries, as well as the use of works in schools for teaching purposes, provided it does not misrepresent the author’s views and is not for commercial gain, among others.

Under Art. 25 of Decree No. 13/2023/ND-CP, any entity or individual that transfers personal data offshore within the scope of the Decree has to prepare, maintain, and file a Transfer Impact Assessment (TIA) with the Department of Cybersecurity and Prevention of Cyber-Crimes under the Ministry of Public Security (MPS A05 Department) within 60 days after the transferor begins to process personal data. The offshore transfer of personal data is defined as using the internet, digital means or digital equipment or other means to transfer personal data of Vietnamese nationals to a location outside of the territory of Vietnam or using a location outside of the territory of Vietnam to process personal data of Vietnamese nationals (Art. 2.14).
The TIA must include, among other things:
- details of transferor and receiver(s); description and explanation of the purposes of the processing activities to be performed after such transfer;
- types of data to be transferred;
- assessment of the impact of the data processing activities;
- potential consequences, mitigation and/or prevention measures;
- consent of the data subjects with the mechanism for the data subjects to respond to or claim upon the occurrence of any incident; and
- a binding document between the transferor and the receiver of the personal data, outlining the rights, obligations and responsibilities of each party, etc. (Art. 25.2).
After the transfer is completed, the transferor must notify the MPS A05 Department (Art. 25.4).

Law No. 64/2020/QH14 on Public Private Partnership was issued in June 2020 and has been effective since January 2021. Art. 58.5 of the Law states that Public Private Partnership projects only use foreign labourers if domestic labourers do not meet the demand.

Vietnam’s Law No. 22/2023/QH15 on Bidding, which came into effect in June 2023, Law No. 43/2013/QH13 on Bidding. While the Law generally maintains similar provisions for scenarios where international bidding is permitted, it continues to require international bidders to collaborate with domestic contractors. This collaboration can take the form of a consortium or subcontracting arrangement, except in cases where no domestic contractors are qualified to execute any portion of the procurement package (Art. 5.1).

According to Art. 10 of Law No. 22/2023/QH15 on Bidding, incentives are integrated into the contractor and investor selection processes to prioritise eligible entities. For contractor selection, these incentives include suppliers of goods originating in Vietnam, domestic bidders producing Vietnam-origin goods, domestic bidders participating independently or in consortiums in international bidding, microenterprises, small enterprises, and startups. Incentives for contractors involve higher rankings for eligible bidders in cases of equal evaluation, extra points under fixed-price, technical-based, or combined technical and price evaluation methods, adjustments to bid prices for ineligible bidders under lowest-price methods, and prioritisation of capacity, experience, and other criteria during evaluations. Additionally, employers may require the inclusion of domestic goods in bids if at least three domestic manufacturers meet the specified standards. For investor selection, incentives apply to those implementing technological solutions to reduce environmental pollution in high-risk projects. Eligible investors receive higher rankings in cases of equal evaluation and extra points during bid evaluations.

Circular No. 40 seeks to enhance the legal framework governing the prioritisation of domestically produced information technology (IT) products and services in investment, hiring, and procurement, as mandated by Art. 4 of Decree No. 73/2019/ND-CP. The Circular provides guidance to state agencies on consulting and accessing information regarding prioritised IT products and services for these purposes. Enterprises whose IT products and services meet the priority criteria outlined in the Circular (Arts. 5-9) are eligible to receive preferential consideration from state agencies in investment, leasing, and procurement processes.

Vietnam is not a party to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA). However, the country has been an observer of the WTO GPA since 2012.

It is reported that restrictions on foreign direct investment are applicable to cryptocurrency trading. When cryptocurrencies are traded as securities, such activity is considered regulated and requires a licence under the Capital Markets and Services Act, with a maximum of 70% foreign equity ownership permitted.

Art. 17 of the Law on Telecommunications regulates that the State holds the controlling shares in telecommunication companies considered particularly important to the operation of the entire national telecommunications infrastructure. Therefore, there are limits to foreign ownership in these companies. According to Art. 1 of Decision No. 55/2011/QD-TTg, these include the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), the Viettel Group (VIETTEL), Global Telecommunications Corporation (GTEL), and Indochina Telecom Joint Stock Company (INDOCHINA TELECOM).